Safety appliance for railroad-cars.



No. 864,058. PATENTED AUG. 2o, 1907.

` l J. T. ANDREW.-

SAPETY APPLMNGE FOR RAILRUAD GARS.

APPLIUTIN FILED DBO. 27, 1906- 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Swim-wko@ f No'.864,053. Y PATRNTRD AUG. zo, 1907. v J. T. ANDREW. SAFETY APPLIANGR PoRRAILROAD GARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 27, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

Il" l n" UNITED Y STATES JAMES T. ANDREW,

OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specication of Letters I|?a1 :ent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1907.

Application iiled December 27,1906. Serial No. 349,727.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMES T. ANDREW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Montgomery, in the .county of Montgomery and State ofAlabama, have invented certainA new and useful lmprovements in SafetyAppliances for Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and usethe same.

My invention relates to improvements in safety appliances for railroadcars, and the object of my invention is to provide means wherebyderailment ol a train, with the injurious effects resulting therefrom,shall be rendered practically impossible, this application being in thenature of an improvement upon my former application, Serial No. 317,578, led- May 18, 1906.

My invention is applicable not 'only to railroad cars, but also toelectric cars of all descriptions, and to locomotives. l

kWith this object in view, my invention consistsin the construction andcombinations of parts as herein#- after described and claimed.

In thel accompanying drawing; Figure l represents a side view of arailway truck showing my invention applied'thereto, and aportion of thetrack. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same with the plow removed. Fig. 3is a side view partly in section of a portion ofmy device on an enlargedscale with the plow omitted, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showingthe position assumed when a derailment of the car wheels occurs.

In Fig. l of the drawings is represented the truck of -an ordinarypassenger car with my improvements applied thereto. i

la represents the truck side frame, b the pedestal tie bar, c theequalizer, d the equalizer springs, e the spring band, f the pedestal, gthe axle box, and l1. the axle carrying the wheels fi, these parts beingof the usual,- or any preferred, construction.y Between the equalizerand the pedestal tie bar are mounted springs j to produce a cushioningeffect or destroy the shock when the guide rollers, hereinafter referredto, come into play. These guide rollers 1c, which take the place of thesliding shoes, shown in my prior application, above referred to, aremounted in the extension frame m bolted to the pedestals. There are twoof these rollers for every car wheel, one on the inside and one on theoutside thereof, or eight rollers for every ordinary four-wheeled truck.As shown in Fig. 2, these rollers each have a ridge a, and this ridge isalways located on the inside part of the roller. These rollers k `aremounted on axles o, which slide freely in slots p in the extensions mfastened to the pedestal. These slots are inclined from the centerdownwardly in each direction, as shown in Fig. 1. These rollers arenormally held at the top of this inverted V slot p, by

event of a derailment, in which case the rollers would assume theposition shown in Fig. 4, I provide additional supporting springs 3connected to the frame m and to the upper part of each brake block rrespecl tively. These springs are weaker than the springs q, and thebrake blocks r are held up against the rollers k and held againstsaidrollers under all conditions by means of the springs q and 3. Topreventratmng each I of the slots p at its upper highest point ispreferably provided with a slight depression s, in which the axle o ofthe corresponding roller rests, the construction being the same on eachside of the roller. Under ordinary c'onditions, therefore, the rollerswill keep the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

To the main frame of thetruck are attached depending beams tand u inwhich the inner rollers of each set 'are journaled, and to this frame isalso attached a depending center beam '11, to which is attached anapproximately triangular brace w, passing through which, and attached tothe beams tand u, is a casing x, which surrounds the axle h, but doesnot contact therewith or form a bearing therefor,this casing beingprevided to prevent injliry 'to the truck in case of a broken axle. Snowplows y are preferably attached, one at each end of said truck, toprevent the snow from reaching the rollers 1c and displacing them. i

The operation is as follows. In case the train leaves the track for anyreason, as, for example, if the track is spread, and especially whiletraveling around a curve, ,some 'part of the truck willl drop slightly,and one or more o'f the eight rollers c will strike the rail. The resultwill be that this roller 'Will be displaced from its highest position,as shown in Fig. 3, and thrown down so that its axle rests in the lowestportion of the slots p,

as shown in Fig. 4, for example, compressing the corresponding springsq. y The compression of the springs q causes the meniscus' shaped partr-to press against theV roller, 'thus acting as a brake and graduallyconverting the roller into a sliding shoe. The downward movement of theroller, or rollers, in the slots p, will, at the same time, lift thetruck and cause the car wheels to be lifted over any obstacles, such asfrogs or switches.

The train sliding along the track will soon be brought to a stand still,but preferably an arrangement is used whereby the -forcible displacementof the rollers from i,

the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in' Eg. 4, willautomaticalliset the air brakes, such connections being illustratedFigs. 6 and 7 of my application,

above referred to, Yit being deemed unnecessary to rev senese 1. In asafety appliance for cars and locomotives, thecombination of trucks andmeans' carried thereby fr automatically lifting said t'ruckselidjapplylng u braking action in cnse of accident, said means includingspring` supported rollers, and frames' provided with slotsv in which theaxes of `said rollers are mounted, said 4frames p being. carried on thescribed. v v

2. In a safety appliance lfor c ars and lcomotives, 'the combination oftrucks and rn'eanscarried thereby for automatically lifting sald'trucksand setting the brakes incase of accidentfwith snow plows mounted onsa'id trucks, substantially as described. 2D 3.In a.v safetyappliance,for Acars and locomotives, the .combination of trucks havingdepending side beams and .pedestls, slotted frames attached thereto, aroller carried in 'cachot said frames, springs supporting said roller,brake shoes held against said. rollers h yfeald springs, und a casingincluding the carfarxle, the whole structure being braced together,substantially as described. 4. In a safety appliance for curs andloc0motives,` the combination of trucks, frames Icarried thereby.provided with .slots of inverted V-shape, rollers'whose axles are`'iO-mounted in said slots, nsprings for normally holding said vrollersat the highest point of said slots, said, rollers y beingl provided withanges corresponding to the gage I of the rolls, substantially asdescribed. 5. Ina safetyappiiance for cars and locomotives,l thecombination of .trucks, slotted frames carried by said trucks,:each ofsaid slot's being in the shape of nn inverted V, rollers whoseaxles aremounted in said slots, l each of said rollers being provided with aange, and the iianges on the pairs 'of rollers corresponding to the gage40' of the rails, a brake shoe, one on each side of said rollers, ,and'springs bearing against sold brake shoes, and normally holding the axlesof the rollers at the highest points of the slotsfsubstantiall. asdescribed.-

6. In ,a safety appliance for cars and locomotives, the combination of atruck and a plurality of paired rollers, one palrior each wheel, theonte and inner'rollers of truckframe, .substantla1ly as Vdeescicori'espondingpiir being df theisame gage as the railroad,slottedfromescarrled by the car trackl in which the axles o fsaidrollers ,are mounted, and tension springs normally holding th'e axles'of said roilersnt the highest' point ofsad slots-'while allowing saidaxles to slide down in either direction -to the lower endsofy the 'slotsin case loi? accident, .thereby .lifting the car wheels above the levelof the rails, substantially vas described 7. In a ssietyapplince forcarsand locomotives, the colnhinationwith a truck, of a pair ot'`rollers for each wheel, slotted frames carried by said truclg, in whichslots the axles f the.. rollers are mounted, said slots being shapedlike en inverted V, andsuid rollers beingeach provided With harige, thefianges on corresponding rollers Correspending to the gageoi th'erailroad, a brake block bearing on euch side of cach oi' said rollers,a' spring connected to each brake block und the supporting frame,whereby the axles of the rollerswill bc normally held :it the highestpoint of.' said slots, and a snow plow located at each end of sai'dtruck, substantially is described.

8. In a safety appliance for cars und locomotives, the combinationottrucks, supportingfrnmes carried thereby, each frame' being providedvWith slots made 'like :1n inverted V but having a cut avvay'portion :itthe highest point on its lower side,,iisnged rollers whose axles arelocated in' said slots, two brake vshoes bearing on each roller, one ateach side' thereof, :md springs, one end of each of which bearsgainstone. of the brake shoes und the other end against the slottedframe, substantially as described. l

9. In n safety appliance for cars and locomotives, the combination witha truck frame including the cqnaiizers, and pedestels,'springs. betweenthe equalizers and pedestals, slotted frames carried by said pedestals,and beams depending from said truck, and a plurality' of rollers.

. Witnesses:

E? WAGNER, S; E. WAsnBUnN.

